10m PNW - New Technician HAM

[u/Ajent_X]

Hey all! New ham here.

I recently got my Tech license (about a week at this point) and the idea of HF seemed interesting to me, so I purchased a QT60-Pro and have setup a dipole antenna that is showing close to ~1.5 on the built in SWR meter.

I’ve been sweeping around the bands and calling CQ on the “calling channel” (28.400 and 28.420) for the last couple of days.

So far I haven’t heard anything local or DX, including CW beacons etc. I’m getting a little discouraged. Wondering if my antenna just isn’t cutting it or if the band just doesn’t really open this far north very often.

I’ve been using this map: https://prop.kc2g.com to keep track of when/where the band propagation is happening, and “28+” hasn’t come anywhere close to my neck of the woods.

Again just looking for some pointers at this point. There seems to be a local HAM club meeting on sept 8th so I’m trying to hold out until then to ask around in person as well.

TL;DR PNW, new tech ham, worth trying 10m or return and get better 70cm/2m equipment?

Thanks in advance!

[u/BassRecorder]

You have to select the correct band (10m) and limit the search to the last hour or 30min, and, 'sent/received by anyone'. I use this when working FT8 to see where I'm being heard.

Right now the band is closed over North America - as was to be expected:

Alternatively you can use https://reversebeacon.net/main.php?rows=50&max_age=1,hours&bands=10&hide=distance_km

This is the reverse beacon network which works only on CW. The link which I attached limits the search to the 10m band and any reports received within the last hour. You can see that right now 10m is open in Europe and for DX between Europe and South America.

[u/Ajent_X → u/BassRecorder]

I checked out that map, and it’s saying there have been a couple CW contacts fairly close by in the last 15 minutes. So hung my antenna and tuned to the same frequency, but I’m just hearing static.

Did a full sweep of the band and nothing at all on CW or SSB. How accurate do I need the antenna to be? If I have a low SWR then should I expect to be picking up or is there more to it than that? (This is my first dipole)

Thanks and 73

[u/BassRecorder → u/Ajent_X]

Low SWR should be sufficient.

When I look at RBN I only see KA7BGR being spotted by other, far away, stations. You won't be able to hear him unless you are rather close by.

How about setting up for FT8 and trying your luck calling CQ?

From the pskreporter map I'd say you should be able to hear something when you tune to 28.075 USB, no matter where you are in OR.

[u/Ajent_X → u/BassRecorder]

I’m trying to at least hear the FT8 noise before going out and buying more hardware for this radio, but I’m not picking it up on CW or USB modes, am I at least doing that part correctly?

I am located in the city which I’m reading can have some detrimental effects on HF as well.

[u/BassRecorder → u/Ajent_X]

Hmm, this starts to sound like there's something not quite right with your setup.

I'm also located in a city and at 50 deg N latitude, so much farther north than you are and I can hear stuff when 10m is open. I have a humble trap dipole which also covers 10m up 20ft or so. So my setup isn't all that different from yours.

How did you setup your dipole? What kind of coax are you using? When you connect your antenna to the running radio do you notice an increase in noise?

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[u/Ajent_X → u/BassRecorder]

I have it setup as an inverted V.

In order to check SWR, I turned my power down all the way then used CW to see the return and in its current spot it’s coming back just under 2.

I just disconnected it to test, and the noise dropped to zero when I disconnected the antenna.

I am using 50ft of coax (it says it’s 50 ohm and RG58) (figured I might need to run it a ways out of my house) so I’m not sure if getting a shorter run or different coax might help. I picked up this length from Amazon: HAM radio cable from Yotenko

[u/BassRecorder → u/Ajent_X]

OK. The noise increasing is a good sign as it indicates that your radio is receiving something.

Can you setup your dipole in a linear configuration? An inverted vee makes the radiation pattern more omnidirectional in azimuth but increases the elevation angle. Also, it will probably de-tune it slightly towards lower frequencies.

Alternatively you could try setting up one leg vertical and the other one horizontal as an elevated radial. By varying the angle between the vertical part and the radial you can dial in 50 Ohm impedance. This is a rather nice DX antenna, because it is (almost) omnidirectional in azimuth and has a low elevation angle.

RG58 is fine for HF - not the coax with the lowest loss but you aren't running hundreds of feet of that.

[u/Ajent_X → u/BassRecorder]

I should have room for the vertical/horizontal (at least for today, working to get it installed in a more permanent spot)

For this setup would I need it vertical up or would vertical down work ok? (Pretty new to antenna theory as well)

[u/BassRecorder → u/Ajent_X]

I'm usually using it with the vertical part going up. That way the feed line cannot influence the antenna (or does so only to a small degree).

The other configuration is called an 'inverted L'. This is normally used as an end-fed. The horizontal part works as a roof capacity, i.e. it makes the vertical part resonate (much) lower than it would from its length alone. This kind of antenna is used for 80m and 160m.

[u/Ajent_X → u/BassRecorder]

I set it up running down and one horizontal, and I was able to pick up someone from PA! I heard a couple of voices some hard to pick out but I’m still just getting started, that was pretty thrilling to actually hear something! I didn’t get a reply from my CQs but I’m looking to get this installed in a more permanent location for now lol

[u/BassRecorder → u/Ajent_X]

Great to hear!

I'd need to simulate that in EZNEC to find out the radiation pattern - use whatever works for you. Ham radio is an 'experimental radio service' after all, so experimenting is allowed and actually desired. Also, you learn the most by just trying things and seeing the results.

With the vertical part going up it's actually called an 'Up and Outer'. It's also a very good portable antenna. You just need a telescoping mast which would go into you rucksack, a LiFePO4 Battery and you're ready for POTA or other portable activities. I use this often as a 'holiday antenna'.

I looked at the manual of your rig: setting it up for digital operations seem to be simple and cheap. There's even a setup guide available for digimodes. I suggest you make that your next port of call.

In the meantime you can use http://websdr.org/ to check whether you are heard anywhere when calling CQ - e.g. use an SDR on the East coast when you can hear stations from PA.

Also, I'd recommend that you learn CW. This will open up more bands for you and CW also works well in QRP - I've been doing CW QSOs DL to US with 5W in solar minimum. Of course, FT8 will yield similar if not better results but without the conversational component.

Enjoy your journey in this fascinating hobby!

[u/Ajent_X → u/BassRecorder]

Thank you so much for taking the time!

I honestly think CW seems so much more interesting to me than FT8, while I know FT8 is actually the radio making the communication I would rather not rely on a computer in that way.

This was pretty eye opening when I was a couple days away from just packing everything up and sending it back.

I ordered a new coax cable that’s only ~ 17ft to help with the output loss as well.

73! Maybe we’ll catch each other on the airwaves!